Creamy Tomato & Sausage Rigatoni with Toasted Almonds
An easy, super tasty pasta that captures summery tomato flavor, all year round. To keep things vegetarian – just omit the sausage and use 16 ounces of sliced mushrooms instead.
- Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients
Scale
- ¾ pound rigatoni or other short-cut pasta (see note)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 1 shallot, mincedÂ
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
- 7 to 8 ounces sun dried tomatoes, chopped (drained)
- 1 pound chicken sausage or kielbasa, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon chicken stock concentrate
- 4 ounces cream cheese (can sub 1/4 cup sour cream)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Serving suggestions: grated parmesan cheese, chopped fresh herbs (such as basil, parsley, chives, scallions, and/or oregano)
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions, reserving 1 cup of the starchy pasta water. Drain the pasta and set aside.
- Put the almonds in a large skillet set over medium heat. Toast them until they’re just golden brown (about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring) and transfer them to a bowl or plate for now. Â
- Meanwhile, add the olive oil to the same skillet still set over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the shallots, grape tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and sausage. Cook, stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more.Â
- Add the stock concentrate and ½ cup water. Stir to blend and then add the cream cheese (or sour cream) and butter. Add the cooked pasta (as much or as little as you like), and a little of the starchy pasta water, if needed. Season to taste with salt and pepper.Â
- Top the pasta with the toasted almonds, parmesan cheese, and fresh chopped green herbs.
Notes
I typically don’t use the entire box of pasta for most recipes like this, because it’s too much for the four of us. But you certainly can, if you like. I just hoard the remaining pasta from my boxes and when I’ve got enough again, I’ll add them all together and cook them up. It stretches pasta even further (even though it costs pennies, this is still nice), and can be fun to mix and match pasta shapes this way too.